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ICANN approves dot-xxx, Chinese domains

Internet domain agency ICANN has given a green light to the controversial “.xxx” domain for adult content.

The ICANN board voted Friday to push ahead with a proposal from US company ICM Registry to create an online red light district with the new top level domain (tld).

ICANN rejected the idea of a .xxx tld three years ago, but an independent review found the board had erred and recommended the process be re-opened.

ICM said the new domain would help enable users to filter out adult content and would also help online porn businesses by allowing for easy search and identification.

It said it already had 110,000 pre-reservations and expected “to go live with .xxx domains at the start of 2011, if not sooner.”

“The .xxx domain will provide a place online for adult entertainment providers and their service providers who want to be part of our voluntary self regulatory community,” ICM said on its website.

Separately, Chinese users will soon be able to register names using Chinese characters, ICANN said.

The agency said it had approved Chinese tld names to be issued through the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) and the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC).

New registrations would be available in China from August, Sohu reported.

HKIRC said it would offer free registration of the Chinese domain to current English domain users first. It estimated that 37,000 .hk users would register the related Chinese language .hk domain in the pre-registration period.